“I don’t feel like it’s a job at all,” he added. “I don’t think I’ve had a job since I worked for my father’s construction company.”

That wasn’t so long ago. He’s just 21 years old, and it only was a few years ago Burnham was a high school student making YouTube videos of comical, original songs that made him an “internet celebrity.”

“That oxymoron didn’t even exist then,” he said. “I always wanted to be a comedian, but never thought I’d be a musical comedian.”

His homemade musical videos began viral. By October 2010, he had logged 70 million hits on YouTube.

“The internet is so crazy and you’re exposed to so many things. In an hour you can really jump around,” he said. “I think that translates to comedy.”

Bo Burnham

Today, Burnham has a full-length CD, an hour-long Comedy Central special, “Words, Words, Words,” and a deal to write a film for Judd Apatow. Entertainment Weekly picked Burnham as one of its “12 Rising Stars of Comedy” and Variety named him one of the “10 Comics to Watch.”

Burnham currently is working on a 30-minute sitcom for MTV, “Zack Stone Becomes Famous,” about a kid fresh out of high school who’s pursuing the American dream of being a celebrity without having any talent.

The 6-foot, 5-inch tall comedian has proven he connects with teenagers and young adults who grew up with the world wide web on their horizon, though it isn’t easy to define what they find funny and entertaining.

“Young people have less understanding of what standup is supposed to be – a comic standing in front of a brickwall and talking about his life or his family,” Burnham said. “I’ve found there’s more openness to theatrical things and frenetic comedy,” he said.